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Alison Bull's avatar

I’m a paid subscriber from the early Common Sense days and I’ll never be without the FP. If it weren’t for publications like this and Racket News we’d never be exposed to these stories. I’m so happy that the tremendous work that Bari and team put forth is flourishing.

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Bob Garey's avatar

I agree completely with Alison. I especially like TGIF, but also many of the articles about specific subjects that it's hard or impossible to get fair reporting on or discussions of elsewhere. I'm a happy subscriber from early on, and it's such a bargain.

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frank tarascio's avatar

Very well said Alison. I also became a subscriber early on,, impressed that Bari flipped off the NYT and went on her own. American Dream stuff.

I'm encouraged she thinks: "By covering these hard topics in a sober, fair way, we force others to follow. And in doing so, slowly, we believe we are changing the conversation in the culture and the country."

I don't see it yet, but it took a long time to get where we are culturally, so it'll take a long time to turn it around.

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LSC's avatar

I also was an early paid subscriber. They publish occasional nonsense that frustrates me and makes me question if my money has been well spent. The bizarre and condescending piece about the abortion vote in Kansas was one such article. But the truly groundbreaking news like those Bari mentioned and even the Sunday feature of Things Worth Remembering are such treasures, I know my subscription is well worth it.

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Lucy's avatar

SAME! ( Racket, FP, Public, Lee Fang and more)

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Honey Daly's avatar

Same here, Alison, I am a proud supporter! Reading Bari’s resignation letter to the NYT was my first introduction to her. I’d cancelled my subscription to the NYT during the Hillary Trump campaign, not because I supported Trump, but because of their total & complete blatant bias for her & against ANYONE who dared run against her! Poor ‘ole Bernie got nothing, and Trump got vilified.

I was so impressed with Bari stepping up and speaking out (or stepping out & speaking up) about her appalling treatment at the Times JUST because she dared write an article that was unbiased! Oh my god, how dare she go against the WOKE LEFT narrative!! And, yet, she did not! She simply reported like all journalist should!

Bari and her Common Sense / The Free Press has served as the “pendulum swinging back toward center” I was fearful wouldn’t happen.

Thank you, thank you, Bari!

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Comprof2.0's avatar

Yeah.....that's why you cancelled your NYT subscription....

Bari's NYT "resignation" was BS.....she just didn't like being critiqued. Didn't like "Free Speech."

https://newrepublic.com/article/158535/self-cancellation-bari-weiss

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Spartacus's avatar

The NYT died for me when I ran an office in the Central Asia. I was close to assassinations and political events. When I told the NYT that, for instance, a man they reported as a suicide had 2 bullets in his head of 2 different calibers? NYT actively suppressed it. I could go on. Suffice to say that what Americans read about foreign events is largely hogwash. "Foreign correspondents" phoning it in from... Washington DC. Or, maybe, a 5 star hotel 3 nations away.

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Comprof2.0's avatar

What?! That story was suppressed?! Please tell us more.

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LonesomePolecat's avatar

Bravo Honey. I feel the same way about Bari and FP. On a side note, journalism has always been this way. Over a century ago it reported to the right. The press got us into the Spanish American War and in the mid to late 1800s newspapers gave birth to yellow journalism.

Journalism is now in the thrall of the loony left. Hopefully the pendulum will swing back to the center right.

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Eric Gordon's avatar

LP, am currently visiting what is commonly known as Hearst Castle (William Randolph Hearst’s palatial estate in San Simeon, CA) and was just reading about “yellow journalism”. Apparently it was media wars between the two NYC newspapers from Hearst and Pulitzer at the time.

“It was said of Hearst that he wanted New York American readers to look at page one and say, ‘Gee whiz,’ to turn to page two and exclaim, ‘Holy Moses,’ and then at page three, shout ‘God Almighty!’”

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Eric Gordon's avatar

The term itself “yellow journalism” was based on Hearst having poached a popular comic strip “The Yellow Kid” from Pulitzer’s “New York World”.

Love it when the pot calls the kettle black! 😂

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Dean R.'s avatar

We can dream.

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Alison Bull's avatar

The closest I get to the Times is Wordle.

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Carol Frazier's avatar

Exactly. And Connections.

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L.K. Collins's avatar

The Times is fun to read to see how thoroughly and blatantly twist facts to create today's narrative. The length they go to dissemble is extraordinary.

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Anthony Williams's avatar

Even more fun to read comments by motivated Times readers. Wow!

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Just an observer's avatar

Reading NYT comments scares me. It shows too many people with blinders on standing shoulder to shoulder while heavily armed with absolute conviction they are right. Also, may serve well to lower anyone’s opinion of the educated elite. There is no trace of independent or critical thinking in these comments. My blood pressure goes up when I read them.

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Paul R.'s avatar

Don't forget Wirecutter.

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LSC's avatar

The crossword puzzle is the best of the NYT.

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Jody Hadlock's avatar

LMAO, me too!

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Ute Heggen's avatar

Yes, all information on the cross-sex ideation cult is so important and the main stream media is more like an arm of their indoctrination. I know it all quite well for 31 years, as my ex-husband went down this path starting in 1992. He's never seemed happy, satisfied or fulfilled since. Here's a clip of me reporting fraud of a "sexologist" who has uncertified "therapists" working under her, in NYC to do the 1 appointment "gender dysphoria" diagnoses. It's the "mail order gender affirmation degrees" now circulated which should shock everyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbnkYmyUGtY

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AyaLou's avatar

thanks for linking. It's malpractice!

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Ute Heggen's avatar

You're welcome. There's elephant in the room, preventing this utterly nonsensical, illogical diagnosis, with origins from child sexual molester and masochist Alfred Kinsey and it's preventing the exposure of this corruption. Men like my ex-husband, named Neddy in my memoir (In the Curated Woods, True Tales from a Grass Widow, iuniverse, 2022) have so much to lose. They are powerful, tech-oriented, wealthy men who express their sexual fetishes by adopting a "female persona." Well, lobotomies were debunked and countless women had been damaged by the practice. We just have to pick ourselves up and move on.

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nancy knox-bierman's avatar

Avid reader here and this is my ONLY paid subscription on Substack. It was worth breaking my "free rider" pledge.

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MG's avatar

Matt Taibbi is also worth the subscription, especially as a defender of free speech/anti-censorship.

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Skinny's avatar

Matt’s outstanding.

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Spartacus's avatar

He was. Taibbi's become too uncritical of people who are influencers. He is doing more than a little of "follow my money". I couldn't stomach it anymore.

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MG's avatar

Please explain?

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Alice Ball's avatar

Agree. I don’t see that at all.

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Dyan's avatar

Lee Fang is also worth subscribing too. Great independent, investigative journalism usually on stories you don’t hear about. I flounder him when he published some articles defending Matt Taibbi.

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Lucy's avatar

Agreed. And worth EVERY CENT to listen to his podcast with walter kirn every week. I cant live without.

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MG's avatar

Love the typewriter at the beginning of the show.

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Ellen B's avatar

Michael Shellenberger is right up there with Matt Taibi and Bari Weiss. Great, honest journalists.

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Nuance&context's avatar

Yep. The holy trinity of good press. Those are the three I subscribe to.

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Dean R.'s avatar

I'm going to check out those two and see if I want to pay.

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Alice Ball's avatar

You do Dean, I promise. Matt Taibbi and Walter Kern on Friday mornings are excellent, plus lots of small articles during the week. Shellenberger with another person run Public and it publishes a lot of content daily, lots of writers. They’re exposing the truth on a daily basis and call out the censors. Also Sasha Stone & the 4th Turning.

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Yuri Bezmenov's avatar

The FP is a beacon of light every morning. Let’s not forget about all the brilliant commenters too. They are always adding new perspectives and chuckles to the story. Kudos to Bari and team for letting us speak freely and build community!

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Spartacus's avatar

I have only 2 other subscriptions. One is to Steve Keen's Patreon, a renegade economist exposing the reality that neoclassical economics that virtually every journalist on earth believes is beyond malarkey. https://www.patreon.com/ProfSteveKeen

The other is to The Everyday Astronaut, Tim Dodd. https://www.patreon.com/EverydayAstronaut/about?l=es

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Alison Bull's avatar

And let’s pray nothing ever happens to Substack!

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Running Burning Man's avatar

Recall that in the “early days” of Sub stack there were some folks who urged censorship of “hate speech”. There was an outpouring of opposition from mainly subscriber commenters but some of the Substack writers as well. Even some blowback ack to the Substack founders hosting some folks known for shoddy journalism. The

Founders even went so far as to censor comments or to bar comments. Fortunately, I have not ween that repeated. Fingers crossed!

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Running Burning Man's avatar

And recall that “hate speech” is usually in the mind/bias of the objector. It is uncommonly an objective thing. And that was the case with the “hate speech” objectors on Sub stack

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Comprof2.0's avatar

Yes, certainly can't have censorship of hate speech. Next thing you know, this space will be like Twitter!....or X....or whatever....

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Will Liley's avatar

Agree, RBM (with a nom de plume like that, were you at Burning Man?). I too have been a subscriber since very early days. Bari is not afraid to confront us (me!) and mostly it’s good. But to take just one example, it’s sometimes disturbing: when she interviewed former AG Bill Barr and he revealed his judicial AND social philosophy - I saw for the first time just how radical is the right-wing Catholic view of the world. It explains a lot about the current USSC, six of whom are Catholics.

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Barrett Burka MD's avatar

You just noticed?

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Nadine's avatar

I worry about that as well.

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Linda in MI's avatar

I subscribed very early on as well. While I sometimes question if I want to give it another year, along comes articles like the ones Bari mentioned and more, and I realize I would never hear about these pieces of news if not for TFP. Besides our politicians and the crazies of both the left and right (mostly left…by far!), the media is a major cause of the division and problems we face (see links to Chris Hayes’s reporting of the trans article Bari first mentioned).

Thank you, Bari!

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Stanley Yelnats's avatar

I tried unsubscribing once. I found myself reading headlines and teasers of stories I wanted to read. I resubscribed. I’m conservative. Very conservative. I don’t read every single story. Some don’t interest me. Others I quit reading halfway through. But there’s enough good stuff I’ll keep paying and reading more than half of what’s published. As conservative as I am, I appreciate well intentioned, sound opposing perspectives. Generally, Bari and her crew give that.

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Willie Akin's avatar

Yeah me too. I paused my subscription, but missing Douglas Murray was an ongoing pain and those teases and my curiosity just forced me back. I reckon prospectors had to be patient and keep the faith while digging for gold back in the day, and conservative gold is mostly buried in this current age. I’m glad you are here on behalf of the good “nuggets” sometimes available as well. Have a great day in America!

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Spartacus's avatar

Yeah. Bari gets it wrong sometimes. She got it wrong on lab leak, and still refuses to talk to actual virologists who study this stuff. But mostly it's good.

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Remesh's avatar

On the contrary. Check out Honestly about China from two years ago. Literally:

“So today, in Part One, a look into what went down in Wuhan and Washington during the fateful month of January 2020. We show how the “Lab Leak Theory,” due in big part to Josh’s reporting, went from a fringe conspiracy theory to a credible explanation for the virus that continues to ravage the planet.”

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Erin P's avatar

I waver back and forth between continuing to subscribe because I find glaring blind spots in the reporting (and in much of the lefty politics, even as "middle of the road" as they are, of many of the journalists), but there is SO much good, thought-provoking material in here, and honestly, the commentators are the best. So I will continue to subscribe! Because I don't think you can get this variety of reporting anywhere else. And honestly, I'll just keep hope alive that they might drift slightly more conservative. :-) Or at least not more progressive!

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Eric Gordon's avatar

I’d agree, Erin, but my takeaway these last few years has been that when the right overreaches, I have to console a gay friend, or tell a Muslim friend that we aren’t all bad, or tell my young daughter that yes you are allowed to burn the flag...stuff like that.

BUT when the Left overreaches, My daughter is taught she is an oppressor in school and that she is to be defined her entire life by the color of her skin, I'm told by a guy in a private jet that climate change will kill us all and it is all my fault for owning a house, air conditioner, and a gas stove...and that I should buy a $20 LED lightbulb and a $100K EV or I am an environmental terrorist ... I lose my right to free speech, freedom of assembly, right to own a gun, I’m locked down forced to go out of business and forced to inject experimental drugs, taxes increase, my health insurance company flees the state, inflation puts everyday items out of reach, WW3 can break out at any moment, or can get killed in a crime wave...and basically live in a constant state of fear and panic...even speaking here may get picked up by a left wing Brownshirt and my life gets cancelled...

Good thing I ignore almost all of it and read TFP among others. Still not a day goes by that something from the left overreach doesn’t directly affect my life

Sorry, I’ll take the “bleh, right” 6 days a week and twice on Sunday

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Comprof2.0's avatar

Please elaborate on how your daughter is being taught that she is an oppressor in school.

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Elizabeth's avatar

Well said Eric!

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Mike Eyre's avatar

There is definitely a lens to this reporting that is inescapable. I would encourage them to break through and be openly ambivalent to the Democrat Party. Be free, Bari!

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Dean R.'s avatar

I agree with you Mike, but I get a lot of pleasure from the times the democrats go after the FP lol. Kind of like to keep it this way.

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Erin P's avatar

Bridget Phetasy, who is a writer and podcaster, says that so much of this kind of rhetoric is from the perspective of "...*sigh*, BUT THE RIGHT." i.e., we'd be more into this conservative idea, or conservative policies make more sense here but...the Right sucks and will always suck (and she grew up fairly liberal and currently considers herself "politically homeless"). I get some of that same vibe from The FP. "Gender ideology is messed up, just like conservatives have been saying! ...oh man, BUT THE RIGHT, bleh." So I view most of their reporting through that lens. I'm probably that same way about the left/liberal ideas. It's hard to give them any credit at all!

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Mike Eyre's avatar

Whataboutism is degenerate journalism. I don't see it constantly which is why I haven't pulled the plug on my subscription yet. But more than that there is a fair amount of skew in the reporting here that's probably only obvious if you're a conservative. It's extremely easy for us to spot.

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Spartacus's avatar

Ah yes. And conservatives are always right! 😇

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Mike Eyre's avatar

Are you trying to make my point or be cheeky?

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Spartacus's avatar

No idea.

FYI, on a phone, if I have written several comments, there is no way to get to the comment you responded to without paging through a ton of stuff.

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Ann P's avatar

Same thing on an iPad. I’ll get a “reply” and can’t find what they’re replying to without an endless scroll, so I just give up. Occasionally it will send me back to the replied to comment, but that’s rare. DK if that’s a FP defect or a substack defect. Should be fixed.

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Heyjude's avatar

It’s a Substack defect. If the comment in question requires following the Continue Thread link, it will not take you directly to the comment. It only takes you to the first comment, and then begins the tedious scroll to find the one you’re looking for.

Substack, can this be fixed?

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LonesomePolecat's avatar

I think the reporting pretty much middle of the road. FP defends and tells the stories of people who have not only been pilloried by the PC/Woke tyrants but have lost their jobs. You can't get more left than the PC/Woke swine. FP exposes them for what they are, vicious, small minded, hurtful, bullying assholes.

I like the diversity ideas that FP brings to us every day. I won't quit because FP has a left wing commentator post here. Who knows the loon might just have a point (but they cover it with a hat).

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Comprof2.0's avatar

"PC/Woke swine."

I look forward to your future comments about how MAGA/GOP are being called names.

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Casey Jones's avatar

Nobody's perfect.

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Skinny's avatar

😂😂nope true, but God can you get a more imperfect bunch at the moment in the WH it’s like a comedy if it wasn’t so tragic.

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